Graphene deposition on glass fibers by triboelectrification

In this work, a novel nanomaterial deposition technique involving the triboelectrification (TE) of glass fibers (GF) to create attractive charges on their surface was investigated. Through TE, continuous GF were positively charged thus, attracting negatively charged graphene oxide (GO) nanoparticles dispersed in a solution. The electrical charges on the glass fibers surface increased with the intensity of the TE process. The deposited GO coating was then chemically treated to obtain reduced graphene oxide (rGO) on the surface of GFs. The amount of coating obtained increased with the GO solution concentration used during the deposition process, as revealed by FESEM analysis. However, the same increment could not be noticed as a function of the intensity of the process. Both uncoated and coated GF were used to obtain single fiber microcomposites by using a bicomponent epoxy matrix. The fiber/matrix interfacial shear strength was evaluated through micro debonding tests, which revealed an increment of fiber/matrix adhesion up to 45% for rGO coated GF in comparison to the uncoated ones. A slight improvement in the electrical conductivity of rGO coated fibers through TE compared to conventional dip coating was also observed in terms of volumetric resistivity by a four-point probe setup.